And have her way she did. Sera had her way and she somehow convinced her mate, Enzo, to let her keep the baby.
As the weeks went by, her health had begun to deteriorate and things got worse. She was losing a lot of blood and she was getting thinner by the day. She felt like she was losing her soul as the day got by. But still, her faith didn't lessen.
Instead, the barriers replenished her strength. It gave her courage.
Then the day finally came. The day Ares Aragorn was born.
He was born mid-day but the cloud had immediately dampened and the air turned dark and sinister. His arrival was strictly out of a horror movie. Seat gripping and soul snatching.
Rain pattered harshly on the roof of the mansion as Sera screamed in agony. Enzo stood beside his wife, throughout her tears– he was her rock comfort, even when she screamed and cried from the feeling of being torn apart by the baby trying to make its way out. He stood by her and he loathed every moment of her pain– every moment of her tears and agony.
And when the baby– finally, finally– came out, they were struck with shock. The midwives and the couple themselves.
Ares was no ordinary baby. He was born with bright red eyes and a tribal mark below his abdomen. With bronze skin, he looked like a baby carved out by the gods themselves.
Thunders and lighting joined the Coldcrest Pack on the arrival of their heir. The rain had decreased a bit and the smell of the earth after rainfall filled the nostrils of everyone.
While the villagers rejoiced at the arrival, unbeknownst to them that their heir was a Lycan, the people gathered in the room knew the gravity of what had happened. What would befall their land.
While the birth of Ares was like a ray of sunshine to the pack, they knew there were going to be consequences.
Sera could only give her mate a reassuring smile as they cut off the placenta and umbilical cord of her son. The wails coming from her son gave her strength. She did it. The realization made her smile. She gave birth to her baby without any complications.
Even as she cradled her bundled-up baby, she felt nothing but relief and love for him. She felt whole again as she looked into his eyes– which had turned to a darker shade of grey after he'd calmed down, she knew she was going to give this child her all.
Enzo was immensely proud of his wife. Although he had been scared shitless during the birthing of Ares, as he looked at his wife cooing softly to their baby, he smiled. He was proud of Sera.
"We did it." He tried to keep his lips from trembling as he spoke. He held nothing but joy and love for his wife and son.
Even as he looked into the eyes of their son– their first fruit. Enzo was grateful he had complied with Sera and they had the baby.
Consequences be damned.
~~~~~~~~
Immediately Ares was born things improved for the pack. Although there never lacked anything before him, his birth brought good fortune to the land.
But things got worse in the palace. Of course, Sera tried her best to bring Ares up in the right way, the boy was a truckload of anger and tantrums.
But that didn't shield him from the love of his parents. No. Enzo and Sera pampered Ares with love. They brought him up with so much love and care others wouldn't waste on a spoilt brat like Ares.
As Ares grew older, he turned out to become a force not to be reckoned with. His first transformation was brutal. It was slow and painful, taking several minutes as his bones changed their structure, his body tripled its size and his heart doubled its size too. And it was on a full moon.
But the more he became of the age the more he exerted control over his transformation. The moon could only affect and forcibly transform a Lycan that had not yet learned to control their transformations but Ares had mastered the craft.
With his inhuman physical strength, speed, reflexes, endurance and agility compared to other counterparts, Ares had led the strongest warriors of his father's pack to various war fronts and they would always come back home victorious.
But things got worse for Enzo and his wife. Sera's health completely deteriorated and she became bedridden. Enzo stood by her, even with grief written on their faces. They knew their fates. And as Enzo stepped down to take care of his dying wife, Ares ruled the pack with an iron fist.
"She's going to die anytime soon." The priest announced to Enzo as they hurdled outside the Sera's bedroom. "The medications I'm giving her only help to keep her heart beating and as you can see her body is withering Alpha."
Enzo was tired of hearing that sentence. "Isn't there anything we can do? I would go any length to keep Sera alive and you know that."
The priest sighed. There was only one ultimatum. "I know of a witch, a very powerful one. She lives in the other part of the country." His lips pressed into a hard line. "I'm not giving any promises but she might help you. She's one of the oldest witches alive. Older than your forefathers."
Enzo's heart dared to leap with hope. "I'll do it." He had said with a convicted smile but as the priest grimaced his smile faltered. "Is anything wrong?"
"This witch rarely gets visits. That's because not a lot of people dare to cross the borders of the humans to visit her."
Enzo barked out a dry laugh. "Persky little humans aren't going to stop me from saving my wife. And you know that, Priest." He dragged a hand over his face. "What aren't you telling me."
"Son, these humans are vicious. They're waiting on the sidelines for desperate Alphas like you to cross their borders before they pounce." The priest's face was distressed. "They have weapons. Not just ordinary weapons. They have silver and wolfsbane. You and I know both know how hard it is to get your hands on weapons as strong as that. The only people who would give those weapons to the humans in exchange for the extinction of the werewolves are the –"
"Fucking vampires." Enzo hissed out.
The vampires had been on the necks of wolves all around North America lately. There were on a rampage; going about killing Alphas and destroying packs.
But not the Coldcrest Pack. Never the Coldcrest Pack.
Enzo shook his head, deep in thought. He knew what it would mean if he left this pack with his wife in search of the witch. He would practically be giving his life to them on a silver platter. Unless...
"Is there a way I can summon her?"
The shake of the Priest's head dashed his hopes. But he wasn't going to give up. Even if it meant taking half of his warriors with him.
"I'll do it." And that was the truth. Enzo would do anything for his wife. He was going to stretch to miles for his Sera.
The priest hesitated. "You'll have to take the Luna with you." He sighed. "The witch requires the patient to be brought to her."
"Is she aware of the lengths people have to go to get to her?" Enzo was furious. Putting his life on the line was one thing. But putting the life of Sera? He didn't want to even think about it.
The priest nodded. "Which is why she's the best."
"I'll do it."
And that night the whole mansion raged with anger and storm as Enzo shared the news with Ares.
As expected the young man had put up a fight. There was no way he was going to let his parents cross the fucking sea only to die.
But Enzo had his mind set already. And the next morning, he had Sera put in a carriage with his best warriors and enough weapons on their side and they left.
~~~~~
At first, their journey was verging on being successful. They had crossed many borders and were welcomed into many packs to spend their night there. While most of the Alphas gave them weary looks and advised Enzo to rethink his decision, the others helped him with more warriors and weapons.
Until it happened. Ares felt it when it happened. He felt something leave his body when his parents were murdered.
Enzo and his crew were ambushed. It had all happened so fast. Way too fast for all the warriors to draw their weapons, way too fast before they could transform.
The vampires truly were on the side of the humans. As the humans shot bullets made from wolfsbane and nitrate, the vampires attacked with precision. They were swift as their claws sliced through the necks of Enzo's warriors. And their fangs dug into the bodies of the warriors, removing vital organs as they went.
Enzo was shot directly in his heart as he tried to defend against attacks and keep his wife safe. As he gasped and struggled for breath, he watched as Sera was gruesomely killed.
Her frail heart was taken right out of her chest by a vampire. It happened in the blink of an eye. Before the same thing was done to him.
The bodies of Enzo and Sera were dumped on the borders of the Coldcrest. They didn't dare step into the pack but they made their attack clear.
Ares was enraged. He tore through the entirety of North America in rage and he killed every single vampire and human that killed his parents.
But their death didn't quench his hatred for them. No. It fueled it. He became driven by rage and clouded with his thirst for vengeance.
And ever since then, Ares decided that no vampire or human would be worth his mercy. They all deserved to die. They deserved to be killed in the vilest of ways.
No matter who they were to him or what they would mean to him.
Ares knew he was a different Lycan. More powerful, almost as powerful as the Luna and other gods.
And he knew that they knew better than to put an end to his rage. He wasn't one to be messed with and truthfully? They were scared of messing with him.
But the Moon goddess knew just the right way to punish him for his bloodfest.
And Ares wasn't prepared.